Social inclusion of people with hearing disabilities

The project intends to set up a training course for public and private operators on the issues of deafness and Italian Sign Language; to test the LIS interpreting service in hospitals, emergency rooms in the province and public offices; to test technological devices that allow deaf people to enjoy shows and cultural events; and finally, to publish a call for tenders for the granting of a contribution for the use of permanent installations and main private museums in Trentino.

It is the result of the collaboration of the Trentino School of Management, the Provincial Board for Health Services, the S. Chiara Cultural Services Centre and the Trentino Private Museums.

The aforementioned project is part of the "Fund for the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing people" (Article 1, paragraph 456, of Law no. 145 of 30 December 2018), whose allocation was transferred to the autonomous budget of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in order to promote the full and effective social inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing people.

In the course of 2023, the Autonomous Province of Trento, thanks to the Interministerial Decree of 14 February 2023, was able to give continuity to the project started in 2020, called "Accessibility of public services in the province of Trento", through the remote interpreting service in LIS for access to public offices, in addition to the possibility of starting the above-mentioned activities.

The project has the following objectives

• promotion of knowledge and skills in the use of Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Tactile Italian Sign Language (LIST)
• basic and specifictraining for public and private operators for the promotion and dissemination of a correct approach to deafness
• use of the remote interpreting service through the App
• dissemination of interpreting services for access to public services, including emergency services, hospitals and emergency rooms
• experimentation with forms of participation in cultural performances through the use of new technologies;
• breaking down information barriers for access to museums (video with subtitles or interpreter, qr code, etc.) to make permanent installations and the main private museums in Trentino accessible.

At present:

• the remote interpreting service via App has been guaranteed without interruption;
• TSM is currently providing training for public and private operators for the promotion of a correct approach to deafness (funds allocated to TSM by decision of the Provincial Council no. 71 dated 25/01/2024)
• by decision of the Provincial Council no. 390 dated 28/03/2024, a call for proposals was approved for museums that will succeed in making their services more accessible to people with hearing disabilities; by decision of the Director no. 5412 dated 27/05/2024, the list of museums admitted to the grant was approved;
• The UMSE Disability and Socio-Healthcare Integration Unit is in contact with the S. Chiara Cultural Centre and the APSS for the purpose of implementing the remaining activities (funding allocated to the S. Chiara Cultural Centre by decision of the Provincial Government no. 1133 dated 26/07/2024; funding allocated to the Provincial Health Services Agency by decision of the Provincial Government no. 1652 dated 18/10/2024).

The project is financed by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Office for Policies in favour of people with disabilities

The project resources amount to euro 269,942.00, to which euro 98,681.40 are to be added, as savings accrued from the 2020 project.

Eighty per cent of the allocated amount is disbursed upon the positive verification of the project consistency, the remaining 20 per cent upon conclusion of the project with the final reporting of the results achieved.